Much ado about nothing.

As I sit here in the UK on a balmy summer's evening, I think about the constellation of problems facing not just British but world society. I recently just got back from a trip to Paris and I marvelled at how laissez faire the Parisians were. They just seem so much more laid back and relaxed than us Brits. I really love their disdain for status games that seem to plague many a modern society these days.

Which brings me to the Tory leadership contest here in the UK. Many gallons of ink have been spilled about the differences between the candidates and which one is better etc. The truth is however, Prime Ministers really don't have too much control over what happens around them. Yes they can tinker  around the edges, but real meaningful change rarely happens.

Take for example my much beloved topic of UK debt. Neither candidate has put forward any credible plan to tack the problem. No politician dare bring in the much needed cuts in spending and tax raises that might make a dent in the debt. Doing so would be political suicide if not pulled off correctly.

The direction that the UK economy is headed towards is like an oil tanker headed down a particular sea lane. Very hard to change course, and despite the endless promises that Rishi and Liz might spout, there is very little they can do to halt the general long term decline of the UK finances. The decision to de industrialise our economy in the 70s and 80s and make it overly reliant on finance, services and real estate was a fatal move. Compare this to Germany which is an export power house and has consistently recorded budget surpluses, the UK has constant budget deficits which are growing by the second.

So whoever does win this leadership election will have won a hollow victory as they will have inherited a country that is in dire straights, relative to its past glories. They best they can hope for is to implement some sort of measures to mitigate the inevitable financial pain ahead of us.

In my fantasy political world, the UK would re industrialise and become more of an export juggernaut using their undoubted talent, which is criminally under utilised at present. The UK used to be number 1 by a country mile but they have fallen a long way. An industrialised Britain would be an amazing sight to see, it's such a shame that this is a possibility that will most likely never happen.

It will be interesting to see how the winner of the Tory contest tackles the coming societal problems, given that they have very little room to manoeuvre.